Preparation of Ghee

Objectives:

To prepare ghee form butter/cream
To study the quality of Ghee.

Relevant information:

Ghee is clarified butter fat.  It is prepared on both small and large scale, Deshi method of ghee making comprises more than 90% if Indian Ghee production. The Ghee is prepared b fermenting whole milk to curd, churning the curd to butter and boiling down the latter to ghee.  Ghee is the richest source of animal fat in vegetarian diet.  It supplies 9 K. calorie energy/gm.  It has long keeping quality under tropical storage conditions.  In India, Ghee is prepared form Makhan (deshi butter).  This ghee has low keeping quality than ghee prepared by other methods.
Ghee is being prepared by continuous method on large scale.  A new method of ghee making has been started and named as prestatification method.  Cream (ripened/unripened) can also be used for ghee making.  Ghee prepared form unripened cream has got longer keeping quality.  Factory scale ghee is prepared form unripened cream.

Precautions:

1. Prevent over flow due to foaming by regulating heating.
2. Careful stirring during butter melting.
3. Ripening of cream should be carried out carefully/ appropriately and under controlled conditions.

Material required:

1. Ripened cream/cream/butter
2. Muslin cloth

Apparatus:

1. Ghee boiled / Iron pan
2. A stirrer with flat end
3. Shegadi or chula
4. Thermometer (0-200 0C)
5. Weighting balance
6. Tin containers for packaging ghee.

Procedure:

1. Put the butter/cream in the iron pan. It starts melting at 30 0 C by the time the temperature reaches to 64 0 C all the butter gets melted. Butter is stirred during melting.
2. Temperature increases up to 94 0 C and remains till most of the water is evaporated. At this stage is formed on the surface.
3. The contains of boiling pan become much thicker and bubbles are formed.
4. The curd particles begin to form in to lumps as the temperature approaches to 110 0 C much of the curd is carried up to the surface where it forms its scum.
5. Curd particles begin to sink to the bottom of the pan. At this stage temperature is about 120 0 C.
6. Scum disappears from the surface and the general appearance is of a clean yellowish liquid with white curd particle floating near the bottom of pan.
7. As the temperature rises to about 120 0 C the larger bubbles is gradually replaces by smaller one with cracking sound. At this stage the ghee is ready.
8. During cooling crystal or grain formation takes place if ghee is cooled suddenly, small sized grains are formed and if ghee is cooled slowly big sized grains are formed. So cool ghee slowly. Ghee should be filled in Zinc coated tinned vessels.
9. Never use iron or copper containers. It should be protected from sunlight.

Judging quality of ghee:

Ghee is graded on the basis of standards, A standard score card is given in Table 1. Table 1. Score card of ghee

After computation of the data, in Table 1 by judge, the following gradation should be specified.